It's Time to Run
by LowTide1322
Summary: When Barry finally defeats Zoom, he finds himself in yet another unfamiliar universe. Here, he meets someone who claims to know all about him and his... T.V. show? (Reader-insert. Oneshot.)


**This is a short little oneshot that I wrote in a journal about a year and a half ago. It takes place towards the end of season 2. Keep in mind, I wrote this before the finale aired, so it doesn't go along perfectly with what happened.**

 **Also, this is almost like a reader-insert type of story rather than an OC. Basically, the summary is "what if Barry found out there was a T.V. show based on his life?". The character talking in first person could be me, you, or whoever you'd like them to be.**

 **Please enjoy! -LowTide1322**

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In a usually quiet neighborhood, there is a sonic _boom_ that startles everyone in their homes. They peek outside of their windows, looking for thunderclouds or possibly even a house on fire. To their surprise, the weather is perfect; not a hint of a cloud in the sky. The squirrels scurry up their trees and the birds chirp their short and sweet songs. The people sigh in relief, nothing out of the ordinary today. Perhaps it was just some new construction site on the nearby highway, they reason. They all return to their chores or house parties or hobbies or whatever they would be doing on a Saturday afternoon in late May.

A few before turning away from their windows, though, see a flash of yellow lightning. They blink in disbelief, eyes wide open in anticipation for the next flash, but for them it never comes. The few shake their heads and shut their blinds. The only explanation could be that they were just seeing things. The line between possible and the impossible is very, very thick. Nothing out of the ordinary ever happened here, the perfect town on the edge of a lake. Everything and almost everyone was always perfect; hardly any crime at all, never any natural disasters aside from the occasional flash flood, the schools are top notch, and the list could go on and on.

Life here is normal.

But sometimes normal can be _too_ normal. Things happen how they are supposed to and how anyone would expect. This is just a town, near a city in a country on an earth in a universe. A universe that is simply one of many in a multiverse; a multiverse underneath a supreme essence that started it all. This essence could be labeled as fate, destiny, God, or simply as nothingness (whatever floats your boat, I guess).

And this particular sunny Saturday afternoon in May, the essence allows the line between impossible and possible to be blurred for the first time in years—no, ages.

And it changes the life of one hero in the most miniscule way possible, but at the same time the best way possible.

Barry Allen runs as fast as he can. He's almost beat Zoom, almost, he's so close. He pushes himself harder; this is to save his city, his friends, his family. He's already lost his father, and he can't afford to lose anyone else to this speed demon. His legs barely feel like they touch the ground as he propels himself forward at inhuman speeds. The blue lightning next to him falls behind an inch and he smiles.

At the same time, I run around the block of my neighborhood. I'm so much better at sprinting than I am at long distance, but I need to keep in shape for soccer season. My knees start to bump each other and my legs wobble. I check my watch again to make sure I'm keeping pace, and I frown. This lap was much slower than yesterday's.

The Flash continues to run faster and faster and he hears the speed demon now further behind him growl. He smiles again, but soon feels a slightly painful tingle throughout his body. He knows he's pushing his body to the limit, maybe even past the limit, and the speed force is making him pay for it. If he can hold out for just a little bit longer the speed force might take Zoom rather than Barry. It's the battle of good vs. evil incarnate, so why wouldn't the speedforce grant the Flash victory? Hasn't he suffered enough?

He grows weaker and weaker, and the blue lightning slowly gains on him again. His breaths are shorter and the pain grows stronger with each step he takes. He thinks about his friends and family standing below on the pavement, his friends in Star City, but mostly he thinks about Iris. He loves her; God, he loves her. And little does he know, she loves him more than anything in the whole world. If he ever left her, she would be heartbroken. If the speed demon got to her, he would be lost.

Taking one last look at the love of his life, he screams and with all his might pushes himself to run past the pain, past the fear of death. He hears Zoom scream just as loud, and then…

Quiet.

Not silence, but just quiet. He falls flat on the ground in exhaustion, heaving for air that now his lungs can take in. He lays like this for awhile until he can catch his breath. He turns to look behind him, expecting the speed demon to be in the same position, but all he sees is an empty, black speedster suit.

He winces as he stands up to walk over and inspect the suit. He reaches down and picks up the mask that sparked fear in so many on so many earths, and it too is empty. Barry drops the cowl with a grin because finally, _he won_. Zoom, the speed demon, was no more. He could go home to his family, to Iris—

This is when everything stops. Where is he? He looks around and sees unfamiliar houses and he's in the middle of an unfamiliar street. Everything here seems much lighter and quieter than in Central City that he realizes he can't be _in_ Central City. In fact, the fresh air he breathes doesn't seem to match that of any earth he's ever been to, and this definitely isn't the speed force. He runs halfway around the block in a flash of gold lightning before he sees someone jogging on the sidewalk. Maybe he can ask this person where he is.

I at first try to quicken my pace, but eventually I just slow my run to a jog and then to a walk. It's then that I see someone I never would expect to see on my street; the Flash. I stop in my tracks as he cautiously approaches me. I'm skeptical that this is the real hero, not some creepy person dressed up funny, but it's when he is a few yards away from me in a split second that I realize this is the real deal. At least, unless my mind is playing tricks on me. The impossible is never possible where I'm from.

"Hello?" I squeak. I take a good look at him and see that he's wearing the version of the suit from the CW show. I then assume this must be the Grant Gustin version of the Flash. When he speaks, he confirms my assumptions.

"Uh, hi," he gives a small wave. I must look somewhat frightened, because he then says, "I'm not gonna hurt you, don't worry. I'm the Flash."

I try to formulate a sentence, phrase, something, but I'm still not over my initial shock of seeing my favorite superhero standing before me. He must still think I'm afraid of him because he reaches up to his face and pulls off his cowl.

"My name is Barry Allen, and I'm the—"

"—fastest man alive, I know," I say.

He knits his eyebrows together. "How would you know that? I've never seen you before in my life," he states simply.

"Your name is Barry Allen, and you're the fastest man alive," I repeat. After watching many episode intros from the T.V. show _The Flash_ , I know this by heart. "When you were a child, you saw your mother killed by something impossible. Then, an accident made you the impossible. To the outside world, you're an ordinary forensic scientist but secretly, with the help of your friends at STAR Labs, you fight crime and find other metahumans like you—"

"Okay, I'm confused. How do you know all of this?"

I laugh mostly because he looks genuinely confused, which is more proof that this is actually the Flash. "I think you might be in the wrong universe again…" I say. "On this earth, 'The Flash' is a T.V. show based off of comic books, and your character is played by an actor named Grant Gustin. Of course, there _is_ a Justice League movie coming out someday and you're played by a different actor, but that's not really important." I quickly search my phone for my CW app, and pull up _The Flash_.

I hand him my phone and he cautiously takes it in his gloved hand. He looks back up at me, eyes wide with what looks like fear but also seems like wonder. "This," he says pointing at last week's episode description, "this happened last week."

"Yes, on the show. Although for you I guess it was real. Cool. I wonder if everything in the comics is true, like—" I stop myself. Why would he want to know about multiple different futures he possibly might have? It'd be too confusing and I'd probably create some weird time paradox thing that happens all the time on _Doctor Who_. I shake my head. Wrong show. "Never mind. What's the description for this week's episode?" I ask.

He scrolls through my phone. "Here! 'While running alongside Zoom/Jay—'" he grimaces for a second before continuing, "'—Garrick, Barry runs so fast he and Zoom are launched into a portal—'"

"YOU BROUGHT ZOOM TO MY TOWN?" I say, nearly shout.

"Hold on! It's not finished yet," he says with a small smile. "'—launched into a portal. Barry finds himself with an empty, black speedster suit in an alternate universe where the Flash doesn't exist.' Yeah, but what happens next?" he asks the phone.

"Wait, so you defeated Zoom? That's how the cliffhanger ends! You outran him! So the speed equation O.G. Wells gave you worked, didn't it? Well, congrats I guess. But that means the new problem is going to be revealed _this_ episode. Great." I say, exasperated. What if the new problem has something to do with my town? Or even me? I'd never hear the end of it.

The Flash laughs. "'O.G. Wells'?"

"Doctor Wells/Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash. I think 'O.G. Wells' is easier to say, don't you?"

He laughs again and it's weird to see him do so. The past few episodes have been so dark or sad, especially the latest episode.

He must notice that I'm pensive, because he asks, "What?"

I hesitate before answering, "Nothing." But then I feel I should say something else, even if I don't know this man very much at all. "I'm sorry about your father. You've done him proud, though; you defeated Zoom."

Barry's eyes start to water, and he gives a small smile. "Thank you," he says quietly and dries his eyes.

"How I miss the first season…" I mumble to myself. "Anyways, You're not going to like this, but I have no idea how to get you back to your universe. There are no superheroes here. Nothing like that is possible scientifically so…"

"Really? Because they said I was—"

"Impossible, I know. But here it _really_ isn't possible. There's nothing as convenient as the particle accelerator, or a deserted island with a bunch of secret soldiers on it…" I trail off. I shouldn't bring _Arrow_ into this, but, it was too late.

"You know about Oliver too?" The Flash says, extremely surprised.

"Oh yeah. Your show is a spinoff from his."

He frowns. "Spinoff?"

"Yeah," I reply. "You get struck by lightning in season two, but the crossover doesn't happen until season three; or your season one."

He frowns again. What made Oliver so special that his show was before Barry's? Oh, he thinks, maybe it's because all his drama started with being on an island for five years. If Barry were a screenwriter, that would take up a lot of time on a show. Plus, there wasn't anything interesting going on while he was in a nine month coma. He guesses it makes sense for entertainment purposes, but it hurts his pride just a tiny bit.

"But if it's any consolation, I started watching 'The Flash' first," I say.

He looks over at me and gives me a quick smile before looking back down at my phone again.

"Yeah, all mentions of STAR Labs here is fictional. And Barry Allen is only a comic book character… But hey! That's me!" the Flash says, pointing to a picture of Grant Gustin, "And Oliver!" one of Stephen Amell. "And what's 'Crisis on Infinite—'"

"No, don't look at that!" I say as I snatch my phone back from his hands.

"Why? What is it?"

I ignore his question and address the pictures of the two actors. "'You' are this guy, Grant Gustin. He's an actor. And 'Oliver' is this guy, Stephen Amell, who's also an actor. I've actually met him once… Anyways, both of their shows air on the CW Network."

I can tell the Flash wants to know what Crisis on Infinite Earths is, but he doesn't say anything about it. I don't tell him because why would he want to know how he could possibly die? If the writers of the T.V. show decide to connect the future newspaper article to the long comic book series, then it could be very well how Barry meets his demise. At least, until 'The Flash: Rebirth', I think...maybe? I dismiss these thoughts and listen to what Barry has to say.

"CW…," he says. "I've heard that before… When I was in National City, Kara's boss said we looked like a cast of a CW show."

"That was a reference to your show. 'Supergirl' was a show on CBS, now it's owned by the CW too. You were on Kara's show for a crossover event. Don't worry, your show aired first."

He laughs, then asks, "That was on T.V. also?"

"Yep," I reply.

"Man, this place just keeps getting weirder and weirder."

"Hey, everyone has to get their dosage of superhero fiction _somehow_."

He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "So, um, I hate to ask you this but, uh, do you know a place where I can stay until we figure out how to get me home?"

"'We'?" I ask.

"Well, yeah, you seem to know a lot about my life and how things work where I'm from. Plus, I think I can trust you… I've been having problems with knowing who I can and can't trust lately but—"

"I'm being brutally honest here, but even if I were a villain or something trying to get you, I wouldn't be able to hurt you at all. I'm just a regular person going for a jog," I say with a laugh, but then turn serious. "I know Zoom hurt you and I know Thawne hurt you, but you have plenty of people back home that you can trust. They're looking out for you and they'll help you get through everything. They're you're family." Now, I smirk, "And you have Iris, too."

Barry looks taken aback, and blushes. "What? What's so special about Iris? She's just—we're just—it's nothing. We're, uh, really good friends—close friends," he stutters.

I can barely contain my laughter. "Oh please, literally everyone knows you two are endgame. Once you get back, tell her how you really feel. And _don't_ erase it this time!"

He grins. "So you'll help me?"

"I will try to help you. Key word being 'try'. I'm not a scientist or anything, and I have school and homework and sports… Things are super convenient in T.V. shows. You probably just need motivation and someone to say 'run Barry, run' and you're good to go; but we'll see," I reply.

"School doesn't take up _that_ much time—"

"Oh, you'd be surprised. It's gotten gradually worse as the years progress. I have literally five hours of homework now at the least each night, and with finals coming up it's even worse," I smile as I suddenly come up with a way to deal with the workload. Hey, if teachers are going to give that much work, then I'm using a loophole. "If I help you, would you super-speed through my homework? Please?"

He groans. "I've already paid my dues—"

"Just until you get home? You'd be more of a lifesaver than you already are!"

He shakes his head and laughs before saying, "Fine. You win. Now, were you going somewhere or…"

"I just finished my jog and I was about to head home. Come on, I have all of season one of 'the Flash' on DVD. We can watch 'Arrow' too. I bet there's some stuff that happened on the island that even _you_ don't know," I say. "Wait! I almost forgot. Can we take a picture?"

Barry smiles and stands in front of me holding my camera phone. Before he takes the picture and speeds next to me simultaneously, he says, "Don't blink when the flash goes off."

"Very funny, _Flash_."

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 **Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know what you thought. (Still working on _A Fixed Point Paradox_ , don't worry.)**


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